Chris Stephens: Written Answers (1320)

Written Question

Jobcentres: Glasgow

Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the most recent risk assessment on violence at work was conducted at Govan jobcentre.

Answered by Paul Maynard

The Department for Work and Pensions assess the risks around violence at work via the Jobcentre Claimant Facing Risk Assessment (JCFRA). Govan Jobcentre has a site-specific Jobcentre Claimant Facing Risk Assessment in place, and this was last reviewed 18^th September 2023.

Written Question

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff work in HMRC's national minimum wage compliance unit; and how many posts in that unit were unfilled as of 19 December 2023.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)

HMRC enforces the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).

The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the NMW receives it.

HMRC’s NMW compliance work is funded by DBT. The annual funding for minimum wage enforcement has doubled since 2015 (Table 1, link below) and this additional investment has enabled a significant expansion of resources dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1149618/supplementary_data_for_enforcement_and_compliance_report.xlsx(opens in a new tab)

Data on the number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) working in HMRC’s NMW team will change during the course of the year, and the final FTE position will be published as part of the Government Evidence on Enforcement and Compliance in 2024/2025.

Written Question

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed to investigate tax evasion in HMRC's Wealthy Team as of 19 December 2023.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)

I refer the hon member to the answer on 11 May 2023 to UIN 183914 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament and the answer on 6 June 2023 to UIN 186796 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.

For data on the full time equivalent (FTE) employees working in HMRC’s Wealthy Teams, I refer the hon member to the answer on 28 June 2023 to UIN 189356 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.

Written Question

Tax Avoidance

Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people that are required to make payments under the Loan Charge as of 19 December 2023.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates that there are around 40,000 individuals and around 5,000 employers who have either failed to return the Loan Charge or have returned a figure that is not correct.

HMRC continues to support taxpayers to resolve their use of disguised remuneration schemes and get out of avoidance for good, including helping those who need extra support and providing additional time to pay where needed.

Written Question

Off-payroll Working: Taxation

Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure umbrella companies comply with legislation on the deduction of employers’ taxes from contractors’ pay.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)

Like all employers, umbrella companies are responsible for paying employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) where they are due. Employers cannot, by law, deduct employer NICs from an employee's gross pay. The payment of employer NICs out of the umbrella company’s fee may be shown on the same payslip as deductions, such as Income Tax, from the employee’s gross pay, meaning that it can look as if an individual is paying the employer NICs, when this is not actually the case.

All agency workers must be given a Key Information Document by an agency before agreeing terms, including when the agency worker is engaged through an umbrella company. Key Information Documents set out details about the engagement, including rates of pay. This allows workers to see how deductions and fees are made through the labour supply chain and how this affects their gross pay and net pay.

When set up and operated correctly, umbrella companies comply with tax and NICs legislation. Umbrella company employees who believe that an umbrella company is not complying with its tax or NICs obligations can report it to HM Revenue and Customs:

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/report-fraud-to-hmrc

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of appeals to the Tribunals Service for (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment and support allowance, (c) income support, (d) jobseekers allowance and (e) tax credits were successful in (i) Glasgow South West constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Great Britain in (A) 2021-22 and (B) 2022-23.

Answered by Mike Freer

Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. Glasgow Tribunal Centre is the only SSCS venue serving the Glasgow South West constituency. The published data (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about the outcomes of (a) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and (b) Employment Support Allowance (ESA), for (i) Glasgow South West constituency (this is covered by the Glasgow data), (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Great Britain in (A) 2021-22 and (B) 2022-23.

The tables below contain the requested information for Glasgow and Scotland for (c) Income Support, (d) Job Seekers Allowance and (e) Tax Credits for 2021 – 22; and 2022-23:

	INCOME SUPPORT
	Glasgow Venue¹			Scotland HMCTS Region¹
	No. Cleared at Hearing	No. Decision in Favour	% Decision in Favour²	No. Cleared at Hearing	No. Decision in Favour	% Decision in Favour
2021_2022³	15	5	53%	30	14	47%
2022_2023³	4	~	~	8	~	~

	JOB SEEKER’S ALLOWANCE
	Glasgow Venue			Scotland HMCTS Region
	No. Cleared at Hearing	No. Decision in Favour	% Decision in Favour	No. Cleared at Hearing	No. Decision in Favour	% Decision in Favour
2021_2022	9	~	~	26	9	35%
2022_2023	9	~	~	25	5	20%

	TAX CREDITS
	Glasgow Venue			Scotland HMCTS Region
	No. Cleared at Hearing	No. Decision in Favour	% Decision in Favour	No. Cleared at Hearing	No. Decision in Favour	% Decision in Favour
2021_2022	9	~	~	21	13	62%
2022_2023	3	~	~	11	5	45%

Notes:

1. SSCS data is normally registered to the venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. We cannot retrieve data based on the appellant’s actual address but can produce reports detailing the numbers of cases that were dealt with at one of our Regional centres or heard at a specific venue. 2. Proportion based on the number of cases found in favour of the appellant at a tribunal hearing as a percentage of the cases heard at a tribunal hearing. 3. 1^st April – 31^st March


~ Suppressed in line with official published stats. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available. These data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics as these data were run on a different date.

Written Question

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department investigate benefit fraud; and what recent estimate he has made of the cost of fraud to the public purse in the last 12 months.

Answered by Paul Maynard

The latest information of the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff who are in paid employment and undertake investigations on benefit fraud is in the table below:

	Nov
DWP Product	2023
CFC ESOC	527.7
CFC Fraud Investigations (Including Surveillance)	627.05
Totals	1154.8

Please note the following caveats

Data is drawn at the end of each month. Data is correct as of end of November 2023.
Figures were derived from the Department’s Activity Based Model (ABM), which provides Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figures based on point in time estimate by Line Managers. They cover only FTE of staff with paid employment. They have been rounded to one decimal place.
Figures include all staff on CFC Economic Serious Organised Crime and CFC Investigations including staff undertaking surveillance activities.
The data is frequently revised and changes to definitions / benefits / DWP structure effect comparisons over time. It should therefore be treated with caution and must be seen as an indication of how staff have been deployed.
The number of staff is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal department use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics standard. As the Department holds the information, we have released it.

Information on the cost of fraud to the public purse has been set out in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23. DWP annual report and accounts 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Written Question

Jobcentres: Armed Forces

Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentre clients have been assisted by an Armed Forces Champion in Glasgow South West constituency in the last 12 months.

Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities

Since April 2023, 231 members of the local Armed Forces community have been supported by an Armed Forces Champion in the Glasgow South West constituency.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Written Question